Philippine Volcano Spews Ash One Mile

Published 7:00 pm, Friday, April 4, 2003

The Philippines' most destructive volcano spewed a column of ash one mile into the sky early Saturday in the second sign of renewed activity in less than a month.

There was no immediate no sign of a major eruption, but the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology repeated a warning for the public to stay away from the Mayon volcano, which lies about 210 miles southeast of Manila.

"Although no major eruption is expected immediately after (Saturday's) ash explosion, there is now growing evidence that magma is persistently ascending the volcano's conduit," the institute said.

The ash explosion at about 6 a.m. was preceded by several low frequency earthquakes over the previous 24 hours, the institute said. A similar event took place March 17.

The institute said increases in Mayon's activity recently "strongly indicate the likelihood of sudden occurrence of ash explosions from the volcano."

It did not raise the five-stage alert level from the current first stage, but the institute reminded the public to avoid a four-mile danger zone where volcanic flows could cascade down the 8,118-foot volcano.

A series of eruptions in 2001 forced the evacuation of up to 50,000 people living near the volcano in Legazpi city.